Put into dollars, that's $8B raised in 556 deals during the first 9 months of 2018, compared to $5.5B in 586 deals during the same period last year.

Global VC funding for digital health companies in the first 9 months of 2018 was 46 percent higher year-over-year (YoY), according to Mercom capital. Put into dollars, that's $8 billion raised in 556 deals compared to $5.5 billion in 586 deals during the same period last year. This figure also makes 2018 the single largest year ever in terms of digital health funding, with VC funding alone accounting for $3.1 billion spread across 173 deals in Q3 2018.

"For the first time, we saw funding cross $3 billion in a single quarter in digital health and funding raised year-to-date has already surpassed all of 2017 with a realistic chance of hitting $10 billion this year," Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group, said in a statement. "The sector has significant momentum and substance behind this record funding, from regulatory support to entry of large tech and healthcare companies — including a slew of intellectual property applications and FDA approvals."

There were 68 early stage deals in Q3 2018, including one accelerator/incubator deal.

The Top VC deals in 2018 to date included: $300 million raised by 23andMe, $291 million raised by American Well, $250 million by Butterfly Health Network, $240 million raised by Heartflow, $200 million raised by Helix, and $200 million raised by SomaLogic.

A total of 1,132 investors participated in digital health funding deals in 9M 2018.

When it comes to the M&A activity, it too is slightly ahead of last year, with 172 deals during the first 9 months of the year, compared to 146 deals during the same period of 2017. In Q3, M&A activity was 56 deals, compared to the 68 M&A transactions in Q2 2018.